{"content":[{"Id":306,"Permalink":"/blog/1945__sam_walton_buys_his_first_store/","Category":"Features","Title":"1945: Sam Walton Buys His First Store","Date":"/Date(1503022800000)/","HeaderImage":"/contentassets/fe16b52b67194507855af6185e40d878/newport_store_undated.jpg","IsFeatured":"true","Author":"320","AuthorData":{"Name":"Nicholas Graves","JobTitle":"Archivist for The Walmart Museum","ProfilePicture":"","Biography":"

For him, the best exhibit in the museum is Every Day Low Prices because every day low prices are great for business and customers, and part of what makes Walmart Walmart.

After Sam Walton left the Army at the end of the Second World War, he considered purchasing a Federated department store franchise in St. Louis with Tom Bates, a former college roommate. Sam’s wife, Helen, was opposed to living in a large city like St. Louis, and preferred to live in a smaller place like her hometown, Claremore, Oklahoma.

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As Sam wanted to keep his bride happy, he went to Butler Brothers, the Chicago-based retailer that owned Federated Department Stores, as well as a chain of franchised variety stores, Ben Franklin. After requesting a franchise in a small town, Butler Brothers told him that the Ben Franklin franchise in Newport, Arkansas, was available.

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Sam purchased that store—the name, the fixtures, the merchandise—from St. Louis native George Scharlott and his wife Katherine. Mr. Scharlott was disappointed with the sales at the store, and wanted to leave the small town and head back to St. Louis. Upon purchasing the store, Sam also signed a five-year lease on the building, which was owned by a local department store owner, P. K. Holmes, Sr.

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Sam diligently served his Newport customers and grew annual sales at his store from $72,000 to $250,000 over the course of his five years in the town. It became the top-performing Ben Franklin franchise in the region in both sales and profit, despite being in a small town.

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At the end of the five years, though, P. K. Holmes decided not to renew the lease. He did offer to purchase the Ben Franklin franchise (including merchandise and fixtures) at a fair price for his son Douglas to begin his retail career. Sam Walton and his family left Newport and settled in northwest Arkansas. He opened another Ben Franklin franchise, Walton’s 5 &10, on the square in Bentonville on March 9, 1950.

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The Holmes family graciously donated this Bill of Sale from that Newport Ben Franklin store to The Walmart Museum. We are proud to now display the document that marks the beginning of Sam Walton’s career in retail entrepreneurship.

Today we announced that we are changing our name from Wal-Mart Stores to Walmart. Why the change? Because of our growing presence as a retailer who serves customers no matter how they choose to shop.

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Today we announced that we are changing our name from Wal-Mart Stores to Walmart. Why the change? Because of our growing presence as a retailer who serves customers no matter how they choose to shop.

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Most of us, and I’d guess all our customers, refer to our company as Walmart and still will. Changing our corporate name from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., to Walmart Inc. is just a symbol of how customers are shopping us today and how they’ll increasingly shop us in the future. Whether it’s in our stores, on our sites, with our apps, by using their voice or whatever comes next, there is just one Walmart as far as our customers are concerned. When they shop with us, they expect it to be an easy and seamless experience.

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Changing our corporate name to Walmart is a way of better reflecting our company’s path to win the future of retail. It’s also a bit about returning to the company’s roots. You might be surprised to learn that, when Sam Walton opened the first store in 1962, the name on the front of the building was simply, “Walmart.” A few years later, we incorporated as Wal-Mart, Inc., and amended the name to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., when we went public in 1970.

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For our associates, while our new legal name removes the dash, we’re not planning to change the Walmart cheer. Getting our blood flowing and choosing not to take ourselves too seriously is still part of our culture. It’s important to have some fun at work, so for our associates in countries where your cheer calls for the squiggly, keep doing it!

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We began with great stores and steadily expanded to include clubs and distribution centers. In 1991, we became a global retailer when we opened our first international location in Mexico City, and we launched Walmart.com in 2000. Today we operate under almost 60 different banners around the world, including eCommerce sites, and have more than 11,600 stores and clubs in 28 countries.

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Now, we are focused on strengthening stores and clubs around the world to make sure customers continue to have a great experience every time they walk through the door. At the same time, we’re also building our eCommerce and digital capabilities, and we’re putting them together in a way that makes every day easier for busy families. Sam Walton said, “To succeed in this world, you have to change all the time.” He wouldn’t have known that customers in the future would shop on their smart phones or with their voices, but he did know that retail would continue to change. He taught us that, and that for a company to succeed, it has to be agile and innovative.

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Even though our corporate name has changed, what won’t change is that Walmart will be there for customers—saving them money and time and helping make every day just a little bit easier.

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This post originally appeared at Walmart's corporate blog, Walmart Today on December 6, 2017.

As a believer in Sam’s maxim that you should never take yourself too seriously, Rich’s favorite part of the museum is the picture of Sam dancing the hula on Wall Street as it brings that statement to life.

He wasn’t the first four-legged friend to spend time at the Home Office, but he was the first to actually work while he was there.

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For most of us, taking a nap while on the clock would result in some form of disciplinary action. For a special few, it’s part of a normal day at the office. Such was life for Maverick, Walmart’s beloved safety dog who earned every second he spent napping thanks to his years of tireless service to the company and the community.

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Born October 21, 2002, Maverick arrived in Bentonville in May of 2003. By June, he was getting his first taste of Shareholders, though not as an officer. For his first Shareholders, Maverick was there solely to begin the process of socialization as he and Patty Morgan began their partnership.

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How Maverick Came to Call Bentonville Home

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Patty, the pioneer behind Walmart’s K9 program, became interested in canine resources after 9/11. In the process of researching, she discovered that there were two schools of thought on the subject – one which focused on affable dogs with welcoming appearances and one which focused on strong dogs with an appearance that lent itself to deterrence.

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What was important to Walmart associates, and thus to Patty, was deterrence, so she set about selling the idea of a German Shepherd. Ultimately, she prevailed and Maverick joined the team as Walmart’s only official four-legged associate. First, though, he had to undergo training.

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Training for a K9 officer is a tad more rigorous than for the average dog. K9s cannot stop with sit and stay. They have to be able to climb ladders and take steps on command. There are also the supplies necessary to training a dog that can detect explosives which, for obvious reasons, aren’t readily available to the public at large.

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A Helping Hand, and a Helping Paw

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That’s where the Bentonville Police Department stepped in. Officer Guary Morgan, the K9 handler for the force, agreed to let Patty and Maverick train with him and his dog so that Maverick could learn detection.

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Training wasn’t just about detection and obedience, though. It was also about the growing bond between Patty and Maverick. It grew as Maverick grew into a quite capable officer. In fact, his progress was faster than Patty’s.

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It was 2004 and Maverick was officially on duty, sweeping Barnhill Arena in preparation for Shareholders. As he searched the coaches’ office, he sat down in front of a cabinet, his passive indication that there was something amiss in that cabinet. But Patty didn’t believe him.

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He searched the room again and once more alerted in front of the same spot. Patty again doubted Maverick, but went to Guary for his opinion. After a gentle scolding for not rewarding Maverick for doing his job, Guary sent in his dog DJ to sweep the room. DJ sat down in the same spot. Maverick, it seemed, was correct and there was something amiss.

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Thankfully, it wasn’t an explosive device. What they discovered was that above the cabinet was a shelf and an air vent; on top of the shelf, a starter pistol and a box of rounds. The vent was blowing the smell from that starter pistol down to that spot and making the dogs think that the something suspicious they were smelling was inside the cabinet.

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A Lover of His Fellow Animals, If Not Big Red

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From there, Maverick went on to many more years of service, whether patrolling Year Beginning Meetings or sweeping a green room before First Lady Laura Bush arrived. He worked Razorback football games despite his aversion to Big Red, the giant inflatable mascot. He took part in Maverick Days at The Walmart Museum in which he posed for pictures and helped kids learn about the importance of safety.

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Through all his service, though, Maverick remained a dog. He loved horses, his ball, and visits with Patty’s mom – aka “Grandma.” Most of all, he loved being Patty’s companion. He was there with her as she pioneered the program, he was the animal that taught her just how close the bond between human and animal could be.

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Maverick wasn’t the only animal around the house. His family included two other dogs and one cat. Today, though, that family looks different than it once did. Now only Merlin and Kate, those two dogs, and Francois Pierre, the Abyssian cat, still roam the house. Maverick, the constant for so many years, cannot be found curled in his bed anymore, having passed in December 2015. But Maverick isn’t truly gone. In spirit, he remains where he’s been since 2003 – by Patty’s side, reminding her of their shared bond and accomplishments.

After a ball game in the summer of 1932, young “Sammy” Walton and a group of boys wanted to go for a post-game swim. One of the local team boosters gave the boys a lift from Shelbina, Missouri, just a few miles east, to the North Fork of the Salt River. After crossing railroad tracks and farmland, the boys found the old water stop for steam locomotives that marked the north bank of their favorite swimming hole.

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Rather than taking the time to change into swim trunks, one of the boys, Kyle Peterson, decided to forgo clothing altogether. Upon hearing that a carful of girls had pulled up, Kyle, in a panic, urgently asked his younger brother Donald to retrieve his trunks from the shore. As he swam back with the trunks, Donald reached a part of the river where the current was strong – too strong. The man who had driven the boys out to the river jumped in to pull Donald out, but the panicked child pulled the man under with him instead.

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Actual location - decades later - where Sam Walton jumped in to save Donald Peterson. Revisited by The Walmart Museum Oral History Team.

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Sam Walton, then just 14 years old, used training he had learned as the first Eagle Scout in Shelby County, grabbed Donald Peterson from behind and pulled him to safety. On shore, Donald was blue and unconscious; Sam knew he had to act fast. Administering CPR, Sam’s quick thinking saved Donald, who went on to live to the ripe old age of 86, a popular member and leader of his community of DeKalb, Illinois.

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What makes this story so important to the Walmart culture is in how the incident has become part of Walmart’s “DNA”. Sam, at such a young age, demonstrated exceptional leadership and the willingness to jump in and help when help was needed most. That trait has manifested itself in Walmart so many ways over so many years.

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Here at 105NorthMain, we’ll bring more stories to our digital museum that demonstrate the leadership and willingness to “jump in” that Sam Walton imparted to his company for decades to come.

Every year at the shareholders meeting, an associate or team receives the Sam Walton Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Sam always encouraged his associates to innovate and take risks and this award recognizes those who do just that. Alice Walton and Alan Dranow explain more in this Walmart Museum Minute.

Humble Beginnings The year was 1970. Walmart succeeded with its initial public offering (IPO), and a grand total of six shareholders attended the first meeting, held in a coffee shop near Walmart’s warehouse. Debuting at $15 per share, the run-up to $16.50 put smiles on the shareholders’ faces. The IPO was a success.

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Now THAT’S Shareholder Value Fast forward to today, where the number of Walmart’s shareholders numbers many thousands. Inside The Walmart Museum is a display case housing a 100-share certificate in Sam Walton’s name. But the name on the certificate is not the story here. The real story is that the initial $1,650 investment in Walmart made by anyone holding a similar amount of Walmart stock back then would be worth over $10 million today. By any standard, that’s a great return for a show of faith in a growing retail company in an ultra-competitive environment.

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The decision to hold the next shareholders meeting at the Coachman’s Inn in Little Rock, Arkansas, was based on some less-than-sound advice to attract big-city investors. Unfortunately, even fewer people showed up at that shareholders meeting than the first. In fact, attendance, as they say, was a goose egg.

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Back to Bentonville Next stop: The Benton County Fairgrounds. For a year. And then over to Bentonville High School, where a young Walmart assistant buyer helped decorate the gym for the company he would one day come to lead. That rookie was Doug McMillon, and the memories he has of those days are of a time of hope and great optimism. (Apparently, that hope and optimism just kept growing stronger. Some things never change – and we’re glad about that.)

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Back to the Walmart Home Office auditorium in 1985, where then-Governor and future President Bill Clinton reprises his earlier appearance at the meeting in 1980.

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Graduating to the University of Arkansas Finally, in 1987, Sam moved the shareholders meeting to the University of Arkansas, where it still takes place today. The early meetings were held at Barnhill Arena, where they took place until 1994, when the Bud Walton Arena was finally opened. Also named the “Basketball Palace of Mid-America,” Bud Walton Arena has a seating capacity of about 20,000 and was built in large part by a donation from James “Bud” Walton, Sam’s brother and co-founder of Walmart.

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Since that first shareholders meeting in 1970, attendance has grown – as has the level of production and excitement. Now much more than a business meeting, Shareholders has evolved into a week of celebrations here in northwest Arkansas, with thousands of associates coming into the region from around the world. They’re greeted and thanked for what they do by Home Office associates, treated to special events and immersed in Walmart heritage. As the torchbearers of our culture upon their return to their stores, clubs and distribution centers, they share the experience with others.

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And that’s the point: While the term “Shareholders” technically refers to owners of Walmart stock, Shareholders week really does refer to those things we all share as Walmart associates: our basic beliefs, our culture, our history, and pride in our brand. In a word? Heritage.

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This post originally appeared on the Walmart Corporate blog, Walmart Today.

“We’re all working together. That’s the secret.”—Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart

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Respect for the Individual

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Of the four core values that comprise the foundation of Walmart culture, “Respect for the Individual” forms the bedrock for the company’s belief in and support of diversity, inclusion, and women’s empowerment. These principles are visible in Walmart stores, offices, distribution centers, on the road—everywhere Walmart serves its customers.

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A Reflection of the Communities Walmart Serves

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A microcosm of the communities in which it saves people money so they can live better, Walmart offers employment opportunities to the widest spectrum of candidates possible. Walmart customers are reflected in the associates that serve them. Walmart stores are prime examples of diversity in customers’ towns and cities across the globe.

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“Our commitment to diversity is our commitment to our customers: to treat them fairly and respectfully, to be their advocates, to be sensitive to their causes, to serve them better than our competitors serve them.”—David Glass, former President and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 1988-2000

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In the Beginning: Helen Walton

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From the start, Sam Walton’s wife Helen – the “First Lady of Walmart” – was a vital source of encouragement as she led the way for women to be recognized and included more and more within the ranks of Walmart management. It was back in 1975 that Helen urged Sam to bring a woman into store management; Merle King was then promoted to become the first female assistant manager in the company’s history.

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Everyone Included

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“We will continue to build a diverse and inclusive company that allows all associates – regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, or other characteristics – to bring their whole selves to work, so they can contribute at their best.”

Walmart advances the causes of diversity and inclusion for all associates, and, in so doing, serves as a role model throughout the business world when it comes to the upward mobility of women and every class of minority.

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One of the primary channels for promoting diversity and inclusion are Walmart’s seven associate resource groups (ARGs). ARGs increase cultural awareness and create a greater sense of community among diverse associates through programs, events, and mentoring. For example, the Women’s Resource Council, one of these ARGs, sponsors Pay It Forward Mentoring Circles, where women form small groups designed for sharing ideas and practices that will help them advance their careers.

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Inclusion Globally

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“Inclusion is critical to our success. It will help us maximize our business, but at the same time, it makes us better as a company.” —Rosalind Brewer, former President and CEO of Sam’s Club, 2012–2016

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A Global Imperative

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Walmart’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and women’s empowerment is global. Launched in September 2011, its Global Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative leverages the company’s size and scale to source products from women-owned businesses (WOBs), train more than one million women around the world, and help increase women’s economic mobility.

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Raising awareness for the importance of sourcing from WOBs remains a goal for the company. In March of 2017, Walmart announced it would be one of nine major corporations joining in a unified front to track and report sourcing from self-identified and certified WOBs over the next five years.

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Supporting Supplier Diversity

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At Walmart, supplier diversity means delivering better products and a broader selection to the communities served by each store. Through supplier diversity’s effort, Walmart is able to increase sourcing from businesses owned by people of diverse backgrounds, including minorities, women, people with disabilities, and veterans.

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The most recent tracking shows that Walmart spent $14.7 Billion with diverse suppliers through our direct and indirect purchasing relationships, including $4.4 Billion with women-owned businesses.

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Women Leading Walmart

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“The foundation of our company is strong. We have dedicated, talented, and creative people, and we have the resources to become even stronger.”—Doug McMillon, President and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2014-Present

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The Women of Walmart’s Workforce

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In the U.S., women now represent 55% of our total workforce. Over the past decade, great strides have been made in diversifying not only the makeup of our workforce but also that of our corporate leaders. Women currently comprise 31% of Walmart’s corporate officers, which is higher than the S&P 500 average of 25%. Walmart also outpaces the reported S&P 500 average for the number of females serving on its board of directors. And the company is poised to continue increasing these numbers at all levels.

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The women featured here have had key parts to play in the advancement of opportunities for women at Walmart. They represent role models who embody “Respect for All.” This is by no means a complete and exhaustive list; Walmart is full of unsung heroes that have championed equality and thousands who continue to do so every day.

Our collection is larger than what we display in the galleries. Learn more about our artifacts, plus enjoy an appearance by our archivist, with a trip through our heritage archives in this Walmart Museum Minute.